Sign



July 21, 1925.

E. E. HAMILTON 4 SIGN Filed Aug. 29, 1924 Patented July 21, 1925.

4 UNITED STATES 1,541,120 PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD n HAMILTON, or wnsrrrmn, messacnusmrs.

SIGN.

Application filed August 29, 1924. Serial No. 734,921.

To all whom'it may concern: I

Be it known that I, EDWARD E. HAMIL- TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Westfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Sign, of which the following is a specification. I

This: invention relates to a sign supplied with removable or detachable characters so that it can be changed at the convenience of the user and can be set up in various ways so that if desired prices or other facts indicated by it'can be changed at will and without inconvenience and only asingle kind of character need be required. I

The principal objects of the invention .are to provide a neat and attractive sign' that can be made of celluloid or any other composition material capable of being formed into desired shape and of thin stock and capable of being cleaned readily so thatit will not get into an unsightly condition; to provide a sign of this character especially adapted for rocery and other stores to in-' dicate prices ut capable of general use; to arrange the means for connecting the detachable characters with the sign board itself in such a manner that the pockets for hold=- ing the characters will be continuous with the border of the sign and the characters themselves can be made in the simplest possible manner, that is perfectly flat; and to provide means whereby words can be formed across the sign of smaller letters or charac- Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- I Fig. 1 is a front view of a sign showing a preferred embodimentof this invention ap plied thereto;

Fig. 2, is an end view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 'of Fig. 1; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are views similar to Fig. 1 showing modifications.

I have shown the invention in the first three figures in a form in which the characters are all detachable and replaceable in any position. This sign consists of a main sign board 10 formed of a thin sheet of celluloid or the like and provided in the act of pressing or other formation with a convex bead or border 11 all around the pe-' riphery equally spaced from the edges.

This is preferably made on a curvature with a short radius so that it forms an edge finish for. the article. The sign board projects beyond it equally all around and at the top and bottom is bent over to form two parallel flanges 12 at right angles to the plane of the board-to finish the upper and lower edges and to serve a purpose that will appear.

For the purpose of securing characters 13 and 14 in place on the board where they will be formed into the desired combinations I provide the board with a series of pockets 15. These pockets are made by cutting a slit16 in the celluloid and pressing the body of celluloid 15 up from the level of the main part of the board into registration with the front surface of the bead 11 so that the surous. This avoids the formation of creases at this point or any other irregularity that could catch dirt and dust and forms a slot that these slits are merely cuts through the celluloid which have no width. By raisin I the pocket on one side of the slit a materia the character. I

It will be noticed that" the characters 13 have projecting end tabs 17 at both ends.

for insertion in these pockets. These characters being-perfectly flat tend naturally to lie in the proper osition 'flat against the flat surface of the ard 1.0'after they have faces of that and the pocket 15 are continubeen put in place and there is no force on them to cause them to get out of lace. The character 14 is not materially di erent from the others, but is shown as indicating one use to which this inventioncan be put. I

,It is shown as indicating fi and can' inilicate any other combination of figures or letters. The two'parts are inte lly connectedto ether and they have t e tabs 17 at the ends for fitting in the tab pockets 15 which may be formed originally of such shape or length as toaccommodate them.

In both cases it will be seen that the entire character 13 or 14 with its tab is of a length substantially equal to the distance between the two flanges 12 as illustrated more clearly in Fig. 3. In this way the characters are held practically in place so that they will always appear right when the sign is read from the proper-side the flanges cooperating space is provided for receiving the tab on 3 with the length of the combined character and the two tabs prevent the letter shifting up or down. This is not necessary with all letters as some of them are so shaped that they can abut against the sides as shown at the top of the numeral 7 illustrated in" Fig. 1 and also the character 14, but I make all the tabs in the same way so that they ing them above the surface of the plate will all have the same characteristics and Will not shift longitudinally even if they are so shaped that they would be liable to otherwise.

By making the pockets 15 in the manner described so that their surfaces are flush with the top of the marginal bead and raisi above described are formed as has been stated, but in addition thereto I have provided small pockets 20 and 21 for receiving smaller "characters 22; The characters are made as described above and the pockets 20 are just like the pockets 15, but the pockets 21 are made at intermediate points to receive the tops and-bottoms of letters otherwise secured at the other end and as shown here both of the pockets 21 have provision for theentrance of a tab on a character22 from above and another one from below.

vThese are ofi'set from each other so that a word can be spelled as indicated. In this case I have shown a project-ion 23 on the character 0 which is integral and engages agamst the top of the pocket 21 to prevent sliding motion as a substitute for the flanges- 12 previously described.

the form shown in Fig. 5, I have shown a slmilar main board with a sli htly modified border 25 having a series 0 pockets 26 of a general triangular shape located in pairs opposite each other for receiving triangular tabs 27 on the ends of the characters 26. On account of the triangular shape these tabs can fit into the pockets and they will serveto prevent the shifting of the characters in all directions. In this case as in the other the main board is perfectly plain inside and the celluloid is raisedto form pockets, the slit being really an opening inqhe plane of the main surface of the b0a d. When viewed from the back the tabs which are in the same plane as the char acters, shown on the rear as indicated in Fig. 3. In this case I have also shown similar small pockets 29 for receiving the tabs of smaller characters 30 for the purpose which,

in view of the explanation of the other figures, will be obvious. Most of these ockets, as indicated, are formed on the order 25 and may project above it, as indiperformed in a single .operation and the slits made also at the same time. Also the formation of the pockets in the sides of the bead 11 or border 25 is a feature of importance because that permits the tabs to go in under this bead or border where there is room for it and avoids the necessity of providing a wide slit or bending the letters. Several ways are also shown for adapting this invention for indicating prices which makes it possible to use this system through out all the departments of a store selling varied kinds of goods.

. Although I have illustrated and described only three forms of the invention I am aware of the fact that other modifications can be made therein by any person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore I do not wish to be limited to all'the details of construction herein shown and described, but what I do claim is 1. As an article of manufacture, a sign comprising a main sign board or plate formed of sheet celluloid and having an integral raised border around the periphery and having a series of pockets projecting inwardly from said border and of substantially the same thickness, the plate having a slit through it at the end'of each of said pockets, and detachable characters, each consisting o a flat piece of celluloid having a projection therefrom at each end for entering the pockets at the edges of said slits, wherebysaid characters can lie fiat on the surface of said board or plate and the projectionsat their ends will lie in the same plane but will be concealed by the pockets. 2. As an article of .manufacture, a sign comprising a main sign board or plate formed 'of sheet celluloid and having an integral border around the periphery raised into'a plane in front of the-plane of the central part of the said border or plate and having a series of pockets projecting inwardly from said border and of substantially the same thickness, the plate having a slit through itat the end of eachof said pockets, and detachable characters, each consisting of a fiat piece of sheet material having a tab projecting therefrom at each pockets, the plate having at the end of each of said pockets, and de-' end for entering the pockets at the edges of said slits, whereby said characters can lie flat on the surface of said border plate, and the tabs or projections at their ends will lie in the same plane but will be concealed by the pockets, said board or plate having integral flanges extending at right angles totachable characters, each consisting of a flat piece of sheet material having a tab projecting therefrom at each end for entering thepockets, said board or plate having in-- tegral flanges extending at. right angles to the plane of the same at the top and bottom and spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the entire length of each character a slit through itincluding its end tabs, whereby the characters are wise.

4. As an article of manufacture, a sign comprising a main sign board or plate of sheet material having pairs of slits oppositely located at its upper and lower sides near the edges thereof, the material of which the board is made being raised on the outer side of each slit to form a space, characters adapted to be detachably located on the board each having a projection or tab extending beyond the same and adapted to enter the raised portions through the slits,

prevented from moving length-- each character extending all the way from a slit at the top to a slit atthe bottom, means for preventing longitudinal shifting of the characters, and a series of pockets located inpairs between the upper and lower edges of the plate and being formed from integral bodies of the material thereof, each one located intermediate between the edges of the board having two pockets one opening down and the other up to receive characters between them and hold the same.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

EDWARD E. HAMILTON. 

